Chris Gratton
| birth_place = Brantford, Ontario, Canada | draft = 3rd overall | draft_year = 1993 | draft_team = Tampa Bay Lightning | career_start = 1993 | career_end = 2009 }} Chris Gratton (born Christopher A. Gratton) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the cousin of Josh Gratton who had also briefly played in the NHL as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers and the Phoenix Coyotes. Playing Career Chris played his minor hockey in his hometown of Brantford, playing for such programs as the Brantford Nodrofsky Steelers (which is same program that Wayne Gretzky played in many years earlier) and the Brantford CKPC Knights. He played one season with the Jr B Brantford Classics when he was 15 years old. In 1991, Chris was selected third overall in the OHL Priority Selection by the Kingston Frontenacs. After his rookie year in the OHL, he received the Emms Family Award as rookie of the year. In 1993, he was selected third overall in the 1993 NHL Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning. On October 6, 1993, Chris made his NHL debut for the Lightning in a game against the New Jersey Devils. The next night, he recorded his first career point (a powerplay assist on a Bob Beers goal) in his second game against the New York Rangers. On October 20, 1993, Chris scored his first career goal against Robb Stauber of the Los Angeles Kings in a 4-3 Lightning loss. On August 14, 1997, he was signed as a free agent by the Philadelphia Flyers, earning a $9 million signing bonus. In 1997–98, Chris matched his career high of 62 points and recorded a career-best plus/minus rating of +11. On December 12, 1998, he was traded back to the Tampa Bay Lightning by the Flyers along with Mike Sillinger in exchange for Mikael Renberg and Daymond Langkow. Chris served as the captain for Tampa Bay during the 1999-00 NHL season until he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres on March 9, 2000 with Tampa Bay's second round choice (Derek Roy) in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Cory Sarich, Wayne Primeau, Brian Holzinger & Buffalo's third-round choice (Alexander Kharitonov) in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. On March 10, 2003, he was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes by the Sabres along with the Sabres' fourth-round choice (which was later traded to the Edmonton Oilers who selected Liam Reddox) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Daniel Briere and Phoenix's third-round choice (Andrej Sekera in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. On March 9, 2004, Chris was traded to the Colorado Avalanche along with Ossi Vaananen & Phoenix's second-round choice (Paul Stastny) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Derek Morris & Keith Ballard. After the 2004-05 NHL lockout, he signed a one-year contract with the Florida Panthers. In March of 2006, Chris signed a two-year contract extension with the Panthers. On June 13, 2007, Chris was traded back to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Tampa Bay's second-round choice (Jacob Markstrom) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. During the 2007–08 season, he scored 21 points in 60 games before tearing the Acetabular labrum in his left hip which required season-ending surgery Chris re-signed with the Lightning for the 2008–09 season, but he was waived in December and assigned to Tampa Bay's American Hockey League affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. On February 21, 2009, he was claimed off re-entry waivers by the Columbus Blue Jackets where he played with them for six games (recording an assist) before retiring in 2009. These days, Chris is the co-owner of the Florida Jr. Blades Organization (in the 29-team Empire Junior Hockey League). Career Statistics Category:1975 births Category:Tampa Bay Lightning players Category:Tampa Bay Lightning draft picks Category:Philadelphia Flyers players Category:Buffalo Sabres players Category:Phoenix Coyotes players Category:Colorado Avalanche players Category:Florida Panthers players Category:Columbus Blue Jackets players Category:Canadian ice hockey players